Inspectah Deck at the Blockley Friday Night then Otis Day and the Knights…again while the interior of the Blockley is not amazing the PartyBlog continues to be impressed by the acts it attracts — most likely for the exact reasons why we don’t love the venue we actually love it…the shows go till 2 AM (making it difficult to attend on weekdays), the interior is sparse (allowing for a wide variety of musical acts and crowds), & the tickets are affordable (likely due to the sparse interior). Kudos to the Blockley for repping West Philly by focusing on the music and not gratuitous flash!

Well since the Party Blog can’t afford the price prohibitive flights to Mardi Gras for Mardi Gras Weekend 2012 (current posted rates to Louis Armstrong airport are upwards of $1,400 U.S.) the next best approach according to the Party Blog is to bring Mardi Gras to one’s city, as the party is always flowing in most western cultures where drinking is legal and martial law not implemented for those of majority age. Here, in Philadelphia (Party Blog’s current full time residence) one of our favorite venues is throwing a toga party featuring none other that Otis Day and the Knights — the crooners featured in the greatest party movie of all time — the legendary “Animal House.”

Otis Day, played by real life actor DeWayne Jesse, became such a popular pop-culture figure in light of the unparalleled success of Animal House, the highest grossing comedy film of all time, that the band made that rare transition from aether to reality and began to tour throughout the 80s, 90s, and into the next millennium, continuing to discover the impact and meaning of their music upon multiple generations of toga-oriented partiers.

Indeed, the moral of Animal House continues to strike a chord amongst partiers today who fight the establishment with the power of the party, allowing Otis and the Knights to transcend time and space and bring their spirit off of the big screen and to real life. DeWayne Jesse’s journey embodies the principle championed here at the party blog that you yourself can bring your own party persona, created out of your own imagination and will, into the real world as a real being, even if only for fleeting momentary lapses of reason or temporary releases from the pressures of high-pressured society. We at the party blog do not consider this is splitting one’s personality, but merely diversifying the self in a farcical expression of individualism.

Indeed, the Party Blog also believes that the some of the greatest expressions of the self occur while portraying oneself in a satirical or self-identified manner that may only be possible through costumes or the bending of one’s identity through a party-persona. The act, after all, is not one of hidden identity, but pure cathartic expression that is arguably not possible without some level of costuming or object attachment in a pop-oriented, status driven society. The ultimate victory, however, of a party persona is not to hide behind the mask and simply Chase the Dragon by following sophomoric sexual or intoxicating desires, but to allow the ultimate party-self to break through into the Boomskull (i.e. the party-god head) without the repressive accouterments of Victorian limitations, including social reputation or expected niceties.

Therefore, we congratulate DeWayne Jesse for reincarnating his party-persona, as Otis Day, which took on a life of its own only because Dewayne put so much of himself into the role. To revive that role for his fellow revelers is truly a charitable endeavor. For these reasons, the PartyBlog and PartyBoyGeezy encourages others to bring their party personae to show support for the greatest fictional-to-real party band of all time — Otis Day and the Knights — at their West Philly Toga Party Revival. In fact, the only sensible solution, is for all other partiers in the Philadelphia area free for the evening of Saturday, February 18, 2012 A.D. and unable to travel the streets of the French Quarter, LA to attend as well, in Toga, Mardi Gras beads, or both. Tickets are merely $20 at the door, much cheaper than a flight to New Orleans, and from the looks of this circular, drink specials are available as well…